THE WEATHER

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3592, 2 October 1920, Page 5

THE WEATHER

SLIPS AND WASHOUTS. TRAIN SERVICES SUSPENDED. ELECTRIC POWER CUT OFF. DAMAGE IN THE BOROUGH. The exceptionally heavy downpour of rain which coru.inued throughout Thursday afternoon and night was responsible for a great deal of damage being done and for the suspension of the train' services\ yesterday on account of slips and washouts on the railway line. The express which arrives here about 12.30 a.m. got as far as Taihape, and the passengers had to remain here for the rest of the night and until late yesterday afternoon, until the line south of Taihape had been cleared. There were three or four slips between Utiku and Mangaweka and two washouts occurred near Hunterville. The'van of a goods' train which arrived here late last night was damaged by coming" into contact with a tree at one of the slips, the axle-boxes being practically stripped off.

The ordinary express from Auckland yesterday morning reached Hihitahi, but had to be -held there- on- -account of a big slip having occurred between,Taihape and Mataroa. There was also another slip on the railway near HititaEi, but this was cleared away by the afternoon, and the express train was thus enabled to return from Hihitahi to Ohakune. Had the express been blocked at Hihitahi for any great length of time the vpassengers w r ould haVe fared very Tbadly, as the roads were also blocked and no supplies could have been got through to them from Taihape. It is understood that it was intended to bring the passengers by motor to Taihape, but the blocking of the road prevented this being done.

The worst obstacle to the resumption of the full railway service is, it understood, the slip between Taihape and. Mataroa, which has not only blocked the line, but has also damaged the track to some extent.

In the Borough, some of the large concrete culverts which had just been laid down were not large-enough to cope with the great''excess of storm water, and many "Washouts occurred on roadways and footpaths. The great--lesj: amount of damage appears to have been done to the footpaths on Mataroa JBoad and at Aldridge Terrace. On 'Mataroa Eoad, damage was also done to gardens and one house on low-lying ground was Hooded; • with the' stormwater.

The 'Hautapu Eiver rose rapidly, and the j flood-water brought down numerous trees and other debris, which had to be kept clear of the grating arthe dam. Mr. Thompson, r electrical engineer, and his staff had a most anxious time at the < dam, the destruction'of .which was threatened by logs carried down by the flood. Early in the mornr inga slip came down the high bank »above the power-house road and carried with it a large tree which caught the main power and light cables and carried them into the river. The staff experienced great difficulty in effecting the necessary repairs under most trying conditions, but the power was restored shortly after four o'clock ; yesterday afternoon. Owing to the power not being available, users of current, were not able to run their motors yesterday, and among others affected by the cutting off of the current was the Taihape Daily Times. The paper could not be published on account of no power being available to run the machines and printing press. The main north and south roads were blocked, and most of the district .roads were impassable"on account of numerous slips. An attempt was made to get through to TMangaweka by motor yesterday morning, but the car had to return on account of the road having been blocked. The rainfall was the heaviest experienced here for years, and the cost of repairing the damage done to the railway, roads, footpaths, and culverts j throughout the district will tuu into thousands of pounds.

The position to-day has improved to some extent as far as communicaJtaon with the South is concerned. Last night the express* trains from the south, -which had Keen held up, were able to get through as far as Taihape. Communication with the south was completely restored this morning, and the ordinary passenger train services were resumed. The 5.20 a.m. train, Tan as usual to-day, tout there was no express for ithe south. The 3.35 p.m. train r"or south will Tun as usual today. The line between Taihape and Mataroa is .still blocked, and as far as can be ascertained, the line will not be clear to-day It is possible, however, (that some arrangement may be hade later for transporting passengers from train to train at the scene of the slip; but no definite information bas yet been given as to whether this will be done.

■ The latest advice is to the effect that the north express may leave about 5 pm.